I recently had a conversation with a relative on what my new year’s resolutions were going to be. My first inclination was to say “none” because I truly never follow the typical “will go to the gym everyday” rule and anyways some of the best resolutions I’ve kept were made in the middle of the year! But this time I paused for a moment and thought I don’t necessarily have to come up with new resolutions, just resolve to continue with the ones that I have put in place and work harder at being consistent. Actually that is my resolution, to be consistent in my goals. For example, I do carry my own canvas bags into the grocery store most of the time, but there has been the occasion when I’ve forgotten and didn’t remember until I was next in the check-out line!

Following is a list of resolutions I’d like to share with you that I keep throughout the year. Some are easier than others, a couple are long term goals, and a few are reminders that we all need in order to live more gently on the planet.

•Chocolate and Coffee my two favorite vices! I always try to make sure that the variety I purchase is eco-friendly, free from pesticides and as an added bonus is Fair Trade. One of my favorite brands of chocolate is Vere! Vere (pronounced “very”) is not your ordinary chocolate bonbons, these dark chocolate tiles with their gourmet pairings are works of art! They have made chocolate that is good for you and the planet too!

•Replace your light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs; this is one I will continue to repeat until I’m “green” in the face.

•Buy local whenever possible.

•I’m going to stop printing every message or newsletter I think I need to save. Even though I recycle the paper I don’t know why it just dawned on me to stop printing it in the first place and if it’s that important I’ll just save it on my computer!

•This is a toughie but one I’ve been wanting to do for sometime now: Start my own garden. I’m so lucky to live in a house in the city with a decent size backyard, and I haven’t done anything with it …yet!

•Walk every chance I get. I’ve discovered walking to be quite addictive, the more I do it the more I want to do it. This also goes along with “maybe” getting up early to walk along the waterfront with all those other early risers; I don’t know, I’ll see how long I can stick with this one!!

•Offsetting all my gas emissions. This is a definite one. I made this a goal long before the New Year. After punching in my info at Driving Green I found it would only cost me $56 to offset my truck for the year! A small price to pay for the environment. I can also offset any plane trips and even any parties for the year.

•It’s 2007 and I need a new calendar. An inspiring group of women up in Sonoma County (Northern California) got together and put out the Ecobabes calendar for the new year. All proceeds go to the Climate Protection Campaign. Hey Guys, here’s your chance to ogle pretty women of all ages for a good cause and fight global warming at the same time! The calendar, of course, was printed on New Leaf Paper with vegetable inks.

So there you have it. Some things I do, some I’m going to do, some I try to do, but nonetheless it’s the effort that you make that counts the most. I would love to hear what some of your resolutions are, I’m sure there are plenty more great ideas we can add to the list.

Happy New Year!
Arcadia Maximo